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New Democratic Party
Leader: Jack Layton
http://www.ndp.caRead a letter from the Jack Layton (PDF format)
| Environment | Introduction of tougher Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and Polluter Pay Act. Home retrofit plan, to reduce energy consumption & cut home heating bills, building on the $100 million the NDP put in the last budget for home energy efficiency. |
| Taxation | Commitment not to raise taxes. Does not support corporate tax cuts and favours these for middle to low-income individuals. (No specified amounts as of yet)/td> |
| Armed Forces/Military | During the 12 years of Liberal government, our armed forces were not provided helicopters to conduct safe search-and rescue missions to give one example. Under the Liberals, Canada’s peacekeeping star has faded. We now rank below 30th among contributors to United Nations missions — behind Benin and Tunisia. |
| Gun Registry | The NDP supports gun control. They have concerns about the cost of the gun registry as implemented by the Liberals. |
| Seniors/Low Income | An increase in the federal child tax credit of $1,000 phased in over four years in order to help lower-income families cover childcare costs and meet other essential expenses. $1 billion annual transfer to provinces tied to improvements in home care and a $500 million annual transfer tied to the creation of new long-term-care spaces. $1.6-billion to build affordable housing |
| Health Care | The New Democratic Party is committed to Canada’s Health care based on the principles set by Tommy Douglas. It is firmly opposed to any form of two-tier system and believes all Canadians should have equal access to Health Care regardless of their wealth. |
| Post Secondary Education | The NDP will protect post secondary education by a series of reforms like reducing tuition fees by 10%, creating an interest-free Canada Student Loan Program, ban private for profit universities as well as offer bankruptcy protection to students. |
| Child Care | A Child Care Act to ensure that federal funding for childcare is targeted at licensed, high-quality, non-profit childcare. $1.8 billion invested in childcare next year, with annual increases of $250 million for the next three years. Introduction of a national day care program to support working class families. |
| Immigration | In terms of Immigration policies the NDP believes in family reunification in the case of refugees. Annual targets set at 1% as well as better credential recognition. |
| International Policy | The NDP wants Canada to take a leading role on several fronts. Nuclear disarmament, arms control, human rights, democracy etc. At the same time the NDP believes in cancelling the debt of third world countries as well as increasing Canada’s foreign aid. |
| Democratic Reform | The NDP proposes the abolition of the Senate as an institution as well as the introduction of proportional representation. |
| Agriculture/Fisheries | No details regarding the NDP’s position on Agriculture and Fisheries. |
| Accountability | Establish an Ethics Commissioner that would report directly to Parliament. To clean up politics and restore accountability, the NDP’s Ethics Plan presents a commonsense set of democratic and ethics reforms. |
Source: http://www.mapleleafweb.com/election/federal/2004/platform/ndp.html
NGOs
NGO - three letters you might have seen tossed around that seem to be doing something, but what? NGO stands for Non-Governmental Organisation, which means a non-profit group or association that acts outside of institutionalised political structures.
Bill Tracking Database
The Great Bill Tracking Database. Great resources on keeping track of Bills.
